This May 12, 2020 file photo photo shows the Tesla plant in Fremont, Calif. Tesla is looking to raise up to $5 billion in capital through a stock offering as the electrical vehicle and solar panel maker seeks to take advantage of strong demand for its products. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
By Michelle Chapman
Tesla said Tuesday it is looking to raise up to $5 billion in capital through a stock offering. The announcement came on the same day CEO Elon Musk said he has moved his home to Texas from California.
The stock sale is the second for the electric-vehicle and solar-panel company in three months. In September, Tesla said it planned to sell up to $5 billion worth of common shares just one day after a 5-for-1 stock split took effect.
Musk told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Tuesday that he has moved to Texas, saying that California has taken innovators for granted.
He also could be moving because Texas has no income tax. Musk's 18% stake in Tesla is worth billions.
The newspaper didn't say where he had moved in Texas, but it's likely to be close to Austin, where Tesla is building a new factory. SpaceX, another Musk-led company, has operations nearby. Musk told the newspaper he’s been working on the move for months.
Musk had threatened to relocate Tesla's Palo Alto, California, headquarters and future manufacturing to Texas earlier this year during a high-profile spat with county officials over whether Tesla's San Francisco Bay Area factory should stay closed due to coronavirus restrictions.
On the stock offering, Tesla Inc. said in a regulatory filing that the sales would be made “from time to time." The stock will be sold through 10 different brokerage houses, and each will get up to a 0.25% commission.
Wedbush's Daniel Ives said in a client note that the current move makes sense given the strong rally in the company's shares and investors' keen interest in the electric vehicle market.
Tesla's stock has exploded this year, rising more than 600%. It closed Tuesday up 1.3% at $649.88.
The company has to finance some big-ticket capital spending this year because it’s building a new factory in Germany and outside of Austin. It’s also gearing up to roll out its new “Cybertruck” pickup and a semi sometime next year.
The company posted a $331 million net profit for the July through September period, its fifth straight quarter of profitability. But as in previous quarters, the company relied heavily on $397 million it earned from selling electric vehicle credits to other automakers so they can meet government fuel economy and pollution regulations.
Tesla could post its first full-year profit when it reports fourth-quarter earnings early next year.
____
AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed from Detroit.
Updated on December 8, 2020, at 5:04 p.m. ET with the latest information.
Orangetheory Fitness is redefining the future of workouts with smarter tech, strength-based programming, and community-driven studios built for what’s next.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
